High-Altitude Adjustments for Appliances

The basic problem here is that there isn't enough air (and therefore oxygen) to completely burn the gas to CO2. There are two ways to get around this:

- lower the gas flow to compensate for less air being available;

- increase the flow by having a small fan blow air into the burner.

The latter would be the better way to go: having a fan push the air through a pipe to the burner would increase the air pressure at the burner and thus enable combustion to be made properly. This assumes that the gas pressure upstream of the burner is the same as it would be somewhere at lower altitude ... but your utility chooses what pressure to provide.

Cheers!
DZ

but your utility chooses what pressure to provide.

And this factor rules out use of a regulator?

those who learn, "DO", and those who don't, become salespeople.

since I could not rig up air to the burners and put a positive pressure there, the next best thing was to do the math and make the excess air exactly what it should be. I would rather it be a little too much, than too little. Altitude, quality of air and gas, pressure, and orifice size. These exact numbers, when used in the formula, can make any appliance burn optimally at any altitude (0 to 9,000 feet makes no difference), and isn't optimization the subject here? How many high altitude appliances are converted from NAT gas to L P without using the "formula" ?. Far too many in my mind, and aren't the manufactures responsible for not telling consumers and installers how much C O their appliance puts out at altitude when not installed and tested properly? Most service manuals only mention de or re rating. and just cranking down on the hood orifice in an oven DOES NOT CONVERT THAT BURNER TO HIGH ALTITUDE. Whats a plumber to do when he knows this is wrong, but has to do it any way , or void the warrantee, by not re rating the gas oven over 2,000 ft. It is up to the plumbing industry to know how to do this. They don't understand how much fuel is wasted by incomplete combustion, or how much C O is put into the air we breathe.

There is a way to fix these ovens properly, again , why don't the manufactures fix it ?

Let us all try to get them to publish better information.

In most places you must have a Certificate of Occupancy before moving in.

C O.....get it.

easiest way to derate would be to put in a smaller jet (injector) which would lower the gas rate, the downside of this a slower heat up time.

It would then be easiest but not productive

How "productive" is it to install appliances improperly and shorten, not only the life of the burners, but also people who breath too? It is planned obsolescense.